The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing mailing-ready printed products, wherein at least one sheet of paper, plastic etc. is printed on at least one side thereof and mailed in a closed state, whereby the printing data are produced by the client and transmitted via a network to a printing facility in which the transmitted printing data are printed onto the sheet.
It is known to submit an order for printed matter, for example, brochures, to a printing facility, whereby depending on the printing capacity of such a printing facility it may take days or weeks before the printed brochures are returned to the client. The client then must individually insert the brochures into envelopes and mail them. In certain situations it is even required to apply the addresses to the envelopes. Such methods are not only cumbersome but also cost-intensive and time-consuming.
Furthermore, a method for producing mailing-ready printed products is known in which a device is used that has a receiving unit which receives printing data via a network. The received printing data from the receiving unit are then sent to a printing unit in which the paper, for example, DIN A4 or paper of the size DIN B5 is printed in portrait format. The thus printed sheet is then inserted into an envelope. A conventional pre-manufactured product is thus introduced into the device. In the device the envelope is transported and combined with the printed insert. This method has the problem that the client must send his printing data to a certain device. When this device is already busy, the printing order cannot be immediately carried out. Therefore, there may be situations in which the client must wait for extended periods of time until his printing order is filled.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to embody a method and envelope of the aforementioned kind such that a mailing-ready printed product can be produced simply, inexpensively and fast.
This object is inventively solved in that the client transmits the printing data to a production facility suitable for performing the printing order which production facility then produces the printed product in a mailing-ready state.
The printed envelope is produced from the sheet that can be folded without producing sheet waste portions.
According to the inventive method, the client transmits prepared printing data for carrying the printing order to a suitable production facility. For example, the client can select via the network a production facility which can perform the printing order in the fastest and least expensive manner. The inventive method provides a decentralized mailing system in which the mailing-ready printed products can be produced in a plurality of printing facilities in and out of the country. The production facility produces the printed product in a mailing-ready form so that it can be directly mailed from the respective production facility. The printing data which are to appear on the printed product can already be produced by the client, for example, with a corresponding computer program.
The inventive envelope employs a tailored cutout which is not matched to the envelope to be produced but can be folded without producing waste. For example, this tailored cutout has DIN format, especially DIN A4 format, so that conventional sheets can be used for the inventive envelope or enclosure. Since the envelope is not a conventional pre-manufactured envelope, money for expensive envelopes can be saved. Moreover, it is not necessary to insert the printed materials in a cumbersome manner into the envelopes. By using the inventive enclosure or envelope, the enveloping action can be fully automatically performed without requiring any human action. This can be done in the shortest possible time and especially in a very inexpensive manner.